


No Cage Of Words Can Hold Them

by a_chilleus



Category: History Boys - All Media Types
Genre: Nonbinary Character, Nonbinary!Posner, Trans Character
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-05-23
Updated: 2015-05-23
Packaged: 2018-03-31 21:11:19
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,136
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3993022
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/a_chilleus/pseuds/a_chilleus
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Begins with the day Posner wore a blouse to school. Nonbinary!Posner.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

Posner walked to school, feeling more like themself than they had in weeks. They would normally cycle, but having lent their bike to their sister they didn't really mind the walk. The sun warmed the back of Posner's neck as they turned up the volume of their MP3 and felt a small smile tug at the corners of their mouth- the next song on shuffle was the one they'd been practicing with Scripps earlier that week. They found themself walking in time with the music, pace quickening as the song reached its climax, Posner's feet light on the tarmac that was ever so slightly sticky in the summer heat. The holidays were nearing, exams looming but Posner wasn't too worried about that, they'd worked so hard over the term and they weren't ashamed of how proud they were. It made a change, not being anxious for the first time in... a long time. They were glad of it.

"Hey, Posner," Scripps waved as his friend neared the school gates, and Posner thought they saw a slight odd look on Scripps' face as they got closer but chose to ignore it. They took out their headphones and asked the usual pleasantries before the topic of conversation changed

"Pos, you know Irwin's giving back those essays today, right?" Scripps bit his lip slightly.

"Yeah, why? Are you nervous?"

"A little, yeah," Scripps confessed, "I worked so hard on that essay but he never seems to think it's good enough. He always says my writing is good but I'm not creative enough- I care too much about truth."

"Well, I guess you could approach it like fiction. I mean, you're good at that. And you're good at essays, but if you combine the two skills, it might be more what he's after," Posner suggested, as they entered the school building.

"Yeah, that might work," Scripps smiled," Anyway, aren't you worried about yours? You seem uncharacteristically cheerful today."

"I'm a bit apprehensive, yeah- I mean, obviously I am, it's nearly exam time, so I want to know if this essay was alright. But I'm in a good mood. I feel... like myself, I guess," Posner didn't want to tell Scripps why, so they just said "Maybe it's the weather." It wasn't a total lie. Scripps just smiled and nodded.

"That's good. Makes a change, eh?"

"Yeah," Posner said quietly. The pair met their friends inside and Posner felt themself get lost in the chaos of Rudge's excited retelling of his latest football victory. The group all cheered, drawing the attention of the headmaster.

"Excuse me, boys, can you keep it down? There is no need for that." Posner shuddered, trying to hide it from the others but failing; Scripps shot him a questioning look. Dakin smirked-

"Pos, no need to quake in your little boots there- it's only the headmaster. I didn't know you were that afraid of him!"

"Fuck off Dakin," Posner tried to smile, to show some of their earlier confidence, but didn't quite manage it.

"Pos, you alright?" Scripps whispered, a hand on their shoulder.

"Yeah, sorry. Just..." they bit their lip, debating whether or not to try to say something. Eventually they decided not to risk it. "Just a headache. Came on suddenly. No idea why."

"The hot weather, yeah?" Scripps looked relieved, but something in the way he kept his voice low suggested to Posner that he didn't totally believe them.

"Yeah, that could be it. Can we just get to Irwin's lesson? I think his classroom is usually cooler."

"Come on mate," Scripps smiled encouragingly, "You look a little pale, you should probably sit down."


	2. Chapter 2

Once they were inside, Posner sat beside Scripps and tried to capture their previous good mood. They hummed the song they'd been listening to but suddenly the words felt wrong- "will Nature make a man of me yet?" It wasn't their usual style, it was more to Scripps' taste. It was his idea for Posner to sing it.

"Hang on, hang on- look at Pos," Timms' voice rose above the general noise of Irwin's classroom. Posner looked up, face burning, already knowing what it would be.

"Is that- is he wearing a womens' shirt?" Timms was laughing too hard to get the words out, and one by one each of the other boys took in Posner's outfit and started laughing as well. Even Scripps was holding back chuckles, a hand over his mouth, even as he looked sympathetically at Posner.  
Posner thought fast. Either they could deny it, and no one would believe them, or they could tell the truth and be ridiculed for who knew how long. Before they could say anything though, Irwin walked in.

"Sorry I'm late, our esteemed headmaster stopped me to ask about your progress. Unfortunately, with these essays being as dull as ever, I had to lie in order to avoid his disappointment! However, these are a little bit better than your previous essays, so you can smile for a few seconds before getting back to work." Irwin began to hand out the papers, saying a few words to each student, pointing out things he'd written in red pen.

"Hey sir," Dakin said," What do you think about men wearing womens' clothes?"

"Dakin, what are you talking about?" Irwin hid his shock after a moment, and said "I think everyone should be entitled to wear what they want. It's not hurting anybody, is it? Why do you ask? Do you have something you wish to share?" Dakin looked horrified.

"God, no! I was only asking 'cause we've got a crossdresser in our class, see? Posner over here has decided he wants to wear a womens' blouse today. I was curious as to your views on the matter." Dakin smirked at Akthar, who laughed and looked apologetically at Posner.  
Irwin looked over at Posner and smiled. "Like I said, I think anyone can wear whatever they want. If Posner wants to wear a blouse, then that doens't hurt any of you, does it?"  
Then Scripps spoke up. "Look, Pos was in a great mood until we all started laughing at him. I'm sure we could critique each others' clothing choices 'til the cows came home, but there must be more interesting things to talk about."

"You sop," Dakin shook his head at Scripps but didn't push it when Akthar loudly asked Crowther what he thought of "last night's game- I swear my dad was so annoyed at the score he spilt his coffee over his new shoes." Irwin nodded, and looked back at Posner. They saw him mouth "sorry" before he moved back to the front of the class and called for the class to listen. The rest of the class passed as normal, and Posner felt the heat in his cheeks slowly dissipate.


End file.
